End of an Era
by ScorpioQueen051180
Summary: With permission from SFGrl I have continued her After All and And Miles Before I go to Sleep series. This is set before her fics. Chandler is robbed and brutally attacked in his apartment just after Joey moved out S2.
1. Chapter 1

End of an Era

AN: Okay this story is based on SFGrl's fics After All and And Miles Before I go to Sleep. Thank you SFGrl for letting me write a fic based around yours. This fic is based before After All and this is part 1 of 2.

I'm setting this just after Joey moved out, if you remember, at the end of that episode Chandler sits on the window sill in his apartment looking out at the rain. This is where this fic picks up from.

Disclaimer: I do owe the Friends etc etc etc…

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Chandler sat by the window, he missed Joey; he hated living on his own, even if it was temporary until he found a new roommate. Chandler spent so much of his childhood alone which is why he loved having his friends around. They made him feel like he was in this protective unit – the 6 of them against the world. However since Joey moved out Chandler realised that this perfect reality wouldn't last forever. I mean eventually one of the group had to move or get married or generally grow-up but Chandler never, not in a million years, expected Joey to be the first to take that stand and move out.

Joey was more than just a friend to Chandler, he was the closest thing to a brother that Chandler had, and he treasured that. As an only child Chandler yearns for the picture-perfect family, loving parents, brothers and sisters, but the closest he'll ever get to that is his friends, especially Joey.

And now he was gone.

Chandler felt selfish, he knew that Joey wasn't doing this to hurt him; he was doing it because he wants to stand on his own two feet, and now with a steady job Joey was in the position to achieve that.

Chandler was actually very proud of Joey – but that didn't make the pain go away.

Chandler sighed; he knew he was being childish over the whole thing. Before Chandler could continue his rambled thoughts the apartment door opened. Chandler turned his attention away from the rain and looked across the apartment.

Three men entered, Chandler had no idea who they were.

Chandler stood up and walked towards them. "Hi, can I help you with something? Are you looking for someone?" Chandler asked politely.

The men snickered at Chandler.

"How about we help ourselves?" One of the men replied.

Chandler was confused, a getting a little scared, who are these men?

They walked closer to Chandler, gradually blocking any access to the apartment door.

"What do you want?" Chandler asked nervously, he started to step back away from them.

"Depends on what you got." And that was the last thing Chandler heard before one of the men drew his fist back and slammed it into Chandler's gut. He doubled over in pain, winded so he couldn't call out for help, before Chandler could even think about fighting back another punch connected, this time to his head.

The apartment spun widely and Chandler's head was ringing, he attempted to pull himself to his feet but a swift kick sent him tumbling back down to the floor.

Chandler didn't know how long they were hitting him, time seemed to slow down, all Chandler could focus on was the pain from each impact. He tried to protect his head with his hands but that just encouraged them to kick harder and to kick at his hands, he would pull them away in pain and another blow would hit him square in the head.

He was scared, for the first time he was actually scared for his life.

After what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality would only have been a few minutes, the beating slowed down. Chandler was half-unconscious, his face was bloody and bruised and he couldn't move a muscle. The men turned their attention to the apartment, they started to walk around and picking up items, it wasn't long before they had cleared the entire apartment out.

Chandler was still on the floor, fighting to stay awake, he knew that these men were robbing him but Chandler was powerless to do anything. He just begged that they would take what they want and leave him alone.

Finally when the men had cleared out every last thing they turned back to Chandler and started to cruelly beat him again, this time with his own hockey stick.

SLAM

It made contact with his back, Chandler couldn't even scream in pain anymore.

SLAM

They hit his head, and that was the last blow Chandler remembered.

But it continued; they hit him with the hockey stick another 5 times before they heard voices from the hallway. They paused, walked over to the door and looked through the peep-hole.

The rest of the gang, minus Joey were pilling into apartment 20 having just returned from Joey's place.

"You think we should check on Chandler? He was pretty upset." Monica asked concerned.

"Nahh, leave him be, he'll come round in a couple of days." Ross said confidently.

The door to apartment 20 closed and the chatter faded away.

The men in Chandler's apartment decided to call it a day, it had been a productive day, and they'll make quite a nice profit from selling all the stuff they had stolen. They threw the hockey stick down and casually walked out of the apartment closing the door behind them.

Chandler was lying in a pool of his own blood, hanging onto dear life.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	2. Chapter 2

End of an Era

AN: Part 2 below…

Disclaimer: I don't owe the Friends etc etc etc… (soz for the spelling mistake in part 1 where is say I that DO owe the Friends, I don't it was just a typo! Lol)

Rachel yawned, another day, she thought. She dragged herself out of bed and stumbled out of her room.

"Morning Rach!" Monica said in a very cheery voice, Rachel just grumbled and stumbled into the bathroom.

Monica hummed to herself as she prepared breakfast; she was laying the table when Ross and Phoebe walked in.

"Morning." Monica said with a smile.

"Hey Mon." Ross and Phoebe replied as they sat down at the table.

Rachel exited the bathroom and went back to her room to get dressed; a few minutes later she exited again and sat down at the table.

"Rach, do me a favour, go and get Chandler. I'm not going to let him sulk anymore." Monica said.

Rachel sighed and stood back up; she walked out apartment 20 and knocked on Chandler's front door. As she knocked the door swung open. Rachel took a step in the apartment and saw Chandler lying on the floor in the middle of the empty apartment. She gasped, ran over to him and knelt next to his still form.

Rachel got tears in her eyes as she saw the state he was in.

"Oh my god." She whispered. She leant close to him and faintly heard breathing; his ragged breaths shocked her back into action. She stood up and ran back to her apartment.

She came through the door like a ball in a china shop.

"Chandler!" She shouted. "Quick, he's hurt." She then turned on her heals and ran back out.

The rest of the gang jumped into gear and raced after her, Monica grabbing the phone on the way. As each of them ran into number 19 they all were shocked to their very core. Monica threw the phone at Ross as she knelt next to Chandler and gently touched his face.

"Call for help Ross." She said.

Ross turned away and called 911. The rest of the gang circled Chandler, feeling powerless to help.

He looked dead, Monica thought, his face was horribly bruised. His eyes were swollen; he had a long cut across his forehead and down the right side of his face, there was a trail of dry blood from his nose and split lip which continued past his chin and down his neck.

"Who could have done this?" Phoebe said.

"Why didn't we hear anything?" Rachel whispered shakily. "How long has he been here like this?" She continued.

No one answered, they had no idea.

"I better call Joey." Monica said as they waited for the paramedics.

As Monica broke the news to Joey the paramedics arrived. They quickly moved him onto a gurney and started to move him downstairs, Monica hung up and she, along with the rest of the gang, followed Chandler.

Monica went in the ambulance while the others shared a cab. The journey was agonisingly slow; Monica studied Chandler's still form while the paramedic tried to keep Chandler stabilised. They hadn't said the words out loud but they knew it was bad, they could tell by their urgency and their grim faces – Chandler was fighting for his life.

And it scared them senseless.

Joey stood rooted to the floor for about 2 minutes after Monica hung up. Chandler, attacked, come quick was all that Joey heard, he was shocked, how could this have happened? All of a sudden Joey came to life and ran out of his apartment.

When Joey arrived he found his other 4 friends sitting around looking devastated, they all had spots and smudges of, what Joey could only assume was, Chandler's blood over them.

"Hi." Joey said quietly, "how is he?" They raised their heads to the sound of Joey's voice.

"We don't know," Ross sighed. "They haven't told us anything yet. But," he paused, "it doesn't look good." He finished quietly.

Joey felt like he was punched in the gut. If he hadn't moved out Chandler wouldn't had been alone, this wouldn't have happened! Chandler wouldn't be fighting for his life.

Phoebe stood up and put her arms around Joey; he leant his head on her shoulder and started to cry slightly. A couple of seconds the rest of them joined the hug, all leaning on each other for support. All hoping that Chandler will be okay, he will win this fight.

They didn't know how long they stood like that but they were interrupted by a doctor.

"Are you here for Chandler Bing?"

"Yes." Joey said, "Is he okay?" He asked hopefully.

The doctor sighed. "He has numerous deep bruising throughout his body, with an excess amount on his chest, abdomen and face. He also has 3 broken ribs however what we are very concerned about at the moment is his head injury, Chandler was continuously hit on the head by his attacker and at the present we don't know how much damage has been done, we suspect some swelling so until that has gone down we won't be sure."

"What type of damage?" Ross enquired?

"Worse case situation," he paused. "He could be in a vegetated state." They all gasped, "When Chandler was bought in he had loss an incredible amount of blood, we had to restart his heart twice, and his brain was deprived of oxygen for a couple of minutes. I'm sorry but we've done everything we can, we can only wait and see."

"Can we see him?" Rachel whispered.

"Yes, I'll take you to him."

TO BE CONTINUED

AN: I know I said that this is gonna be a 2 parter but I'm stuck and rather than not posting anything I thought I'd post this and work out the ending later.


	3. Chapter 3

End of an Era

AN: Part 3 below…

Disclaimer: I don't owe the Friends etc etc etc…

Thanks to all the reviews…

**SFGrl**: Thank YOU for letting me continue your idea, I'm glad I've done you proud.

**SpaceMonkey69**: Glad I make you go eiik! Here's more Chan-angst for ya, now get back to Smoke & Mirrors like a gud gal 

**Bingaling3**: Your waiting is over, so please let MY waiting be over and post chapter 14 of I've Been Better 

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As Joey walked into Chandler's hospital room he gasped, his friends had warned him but he didn't imagine it could be this bad.

He looked dead – that thought struck him like a punch to the chest; it actually knocked the breath out of him. His hand flew to his chest; he slowly shuffled forward until he was next to Chandler's bed. He was so still, his skin was very pale, and there were dark purple bruises covering the majority of his face and neck. Joey knew that there were more hidden under the hospital gown and sheets.

He sighed and took Chandler's hand, when the doctor said that only one of them can go in at a time, Joey insisted that he was going in first. In Joey's mind HE was responsible for this; HE should have been there to protect his best friend.

But Joey was selfish.

He wanted to move, Chandler had taken care of him for years and this is how he repays him? By abandoning him? By letting some thugs beat Chandler up? He SHOULD have been there!

Joey became overwhelmed. He started to cry, breaking down under the weight of the guilt.

She stood there, peeking through the crack in the door, not knowing what to do, she, of all people, should know what to do. She watched him break down, he blames himself, and she knew he did.

If only he knew.

If only he knew that it was HER fault. She should have checked on Chandler the night before, SHE abandoned him, not Joey.

She pushed the door open and slowly walked up to him. She wrapped her arms around him, comforting him.

"It's not your fault Joey." She whispered.

He turned around and looked in her tear-filled eyes – she thinks this is her fault.

"Monica…" Joey tried to protest.

"No." Monica stopped him. "You weren't even there Joey!"

"Exactly!" Joey said getting angry and raising his voice. He paused and took a deep breath. "Look Monica, if I hadn't moved out then this would never have happened!"

"Joey.."

"No Monica, I just…." Joey paused and sighed. "I need to go."

He looked down at Chandler; he gave his hand a squeeze, turned around and walked out of the room.

The tears that had formed in Monica's eyes finally started to fall. She sat down on the chair next to Chandler's bed and slowly ran her hand through his hair.

"Oh sweetie, how could this have happened to you?"

Her question lingered in the air, awaiting an answer that was not to come. Her other hand took Chandler's hand; she laced her fingers through his.

"I'm not letting you go!" She said confidently, "I know you can hear me Chandler, I can't loose you, you're my best friend."

She rested her head on his chest.

"Y'know it was hard for me moving to the city, I didn't have any friends, I had trouble finding a job, and the only people I knew were you and Ross. Ross had Carol so I didn't see him that much, so you were pretty much the only person I knew in New York. I guess at first you were kinda forced to hang out with me, y'know for Ross, but who was I to complain." She started to cry, "you listened to me, and you helped me survive in the city." She laughed suddenly. "You kept me laughing!" She paused. "You keep me sane Chandler. I know I don't say it enough and I know that when Rachel moved in I confided in her a lot as well but Chandler, you stopped me from falling."

She lifted her head and stared at his face.

"And I'm so sorry I wasn't there to catch you when you fell, I wasn't there to protect you." Monica's voice was shaking. "Please come back to me Chandler, to us, and I promise to do….." Monica didn't know what to say. "I promise to do anything, anything to bring you back."

She touched his face. "I want to see your beautiful blue eyes Chandler." She hung her head, she sat the defeated. A few minutes passed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw her brother standing behind her.

Ross helpless stood by as Monica sprung out her seat and ran out of the room crying. He turned to Chandler and shook his head.

"How did we not hear anything?" Ross mused sadly. "Man, I can't begin to express how sorry I am. Monica wanted to check on you but I thought you would want a bit of space." He paused. "I spoke to your doctor; he says that you need to fight Chandler, only you can bring yourself back."

He turned and went to leave the room; he couldn't stand to look at his best friend like this; all battered and bruised, and on the brink of death. He was about to walk out the door when he heard a faint groan, his head whipped around quickly, he strained his ears as he slowly walked back towards Chandler.

Everything hurt, he wanted to scream but he couldn't find his voice, all he could do was part his lips slightly and let out a pathetic faint groan. He managed to open his eyes in slits but everything was blurred. Where was he?

Ross saw Chandler moving and yelped, he moved closer to Chandler.

"Chandler can you hear me?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

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AN: I'm evil I know but I actually want to do more with this story now and I don't want to rush it so while I'm contemplating the next part you guys can review this bit 

Oh and FYI the more reviews I get then the quicker I'll write the next part. I'm just a bit fic-ed out today.


	4. Chapter 4

End of an Era

AN: Part 4 below…

Disclaimer: I don't owe the Friends etc etc etc…

Thanks to all the reviews…

**SpaceMonkey69:** There! I kept up my end of your deal, now gimme Smoke and Mirrors Chapter 16!

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Everything was fuzzy, he heard, what he assumed were voices but they all merged into each other so he couldn't make any sense of it. There was also a ringing inside his head which added to the confusion, his eyes were opened into slits but all he could see was a blur of colours. He tried to open his mouth but only managed to move his lips a few millimetres and made a faint moan.

He decided he needed a few seconds so he closed his eyes and mouth and tried to focus. What did he last remember? He was in his apartment… Joey had moved out… so he was alone… then it suddenly hit him. He was attacked, he was robbed! He shook, remembering, he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and he gasped, fear haunting him from his memory. He heard a voice, clearer this time; he was able to start making sense of the words.

"Chandler can you hear me?"

He knew that voice, he didn't fear that voice. His body relaxed, calmed by the voice.

"Can you open your eyes Chandler?" The voice asked.

Chandler slowly opened his eyes; he squinted and tried to focus on the distorted images in front of him.

Ross – he suddenly recognised, Chandler was relieved that one of his friends was there.

"Ross." Chandler managed to whisper.

Ross sat down in the chair, he leaned forward and took Chandler's hand, "how you feeling man?" Ross said gently.

"It hurts." Chandler whispered.

Ross managed a small sad smile. "I know buddy, let me call a doctor." Ross pushed the call button on Chandler's bed.

Rachel and Phoebe were anxiously waiting outside Chandler's room when a nurse walked; curious they both stepped just inside the door.

"He's woken up, and he's in pain, could you call his doctor please?" The girls' heard Ross say.

"Of course." The nurse replied, she turned and walked out the room.

Rachel and Phoebe stepped forward and took a look at Chandler, he was whispering slightly to Ross, who was asking him some questions.

Satisfied that Chandler was indeed awake and talking Rachel and Phoebe backed away and left the room.

"Pheebs you go and find Joey, I'll look for Monica."

"'Kay." Phoebe replied and they parted ways.

A little later the whole gang was around Chandler's bed. Chandler was drifting in and out of consciousness, the doctor had just entered the room and Chandler was waking up again.

"How are you feeling Mr. Bing?" The doctor asked.

"Everything hurts." Chandler whispered.

The doctor sighed. "I know but we can't give you any pain medicine until we find out the extent of your head injuries."

"What?" Joey interrupted. "You are going to leave him in pain?"

"If we give Mr. Bing any pain medicine then there is a risk it could react with his head injury. We can't take that risk." The doctor explained gently.

"Well when will you get the results?" Ross asked.

"A couple of hours."

Chandler let a small sob leave his lips, he hurt so badly.

Monica gently put her hand on Chandler's shoulder. "Sweetie, why don't you go back to sleep?" She suggested.

Chandler sighed and turned his head away in an attempt to block out the pain. The doctor silently left the room, Monica sat next to Chandler, and Ross was behind her, every now and then rubbing her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. Joey was sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed, while Phoebe and Rachel were leaning against the wall next to the door.

They were all watching Chandler; none of them felt that they could leave his side.

"I'm moving back in with Chandler." Joey broke the silence.

No one responded, they knew Joey needed to move back in with Chandler.

The night came and went, Chandler woke up a couple of more times but he was still rather disorientated. The doctor returned with good news, there wasn't any permanent brain damage, although he does have a rather serious concussion and therefore will be kept in for observation for the next 48 hours.

"You're a very lucky man Mr. Bing." The doctor had commented.

He finally gave him the pain medicine he so desperately needed, Chandler then slept soundly for the rest of the night.

When Chandler woke up it was morning and the pain was less, it was more of a dull throb than serious mind-destructing pain.

He turned his head and found Monica dozing in the chair next to his bed. Everyone else was gone; he lifted his arm, slightly wincing, and gently touched her arm. She woke suddenly and her eyes met his instantly.

"Chandler." She said.

"Hey Mon." Chandler said quietly.

"How you feeling sweetie?" She asked.

"Pain is less now, but I'm feeling rather sick." He confessed.

"You will do honey, you have a pretty bad concussion." She explained.

"Great." He said, a small smile covering his lips.

"It's nice to see your smile." Monica said, mostly to herself.

"When can I go home?" Chandler asked.

"Maybe tomorrow." She told him.

He sighed.

The rest of the gang were helping Joey move back into Apartment 19. Once they moved all his stuff they put together some cash and went out to buy Chandler some of the essentials that had been stolen from him. They were assuming that Chandler was going to be released tomorrow so they worked hard and fast to get everything done.

As a final touch Joey bought better locks for all their apartment doors, and then he and Ross installed and tested each one.

This was NOT going to happen again; never again.

The next day they returned, they all waited with Chandler for the doctor to arrive. Chandler hadn't had a great 24 hours, the concussion had horrible side effects, he was very dizzy, sick on and off and very irritable and grumpy. Monica stayed with him the entire day, comforting him when he was being sick and letting him snap and moan at her.

It was the least she could do, she thought, and when he is released she will continue helping him, until he was better. Then she will ensure that this will never happen again, just like the others' had promised themselves.

Chandler was in better spirits the morning the gang returned. They made idle chatter while they waited for the doctor to come around.

"Well Mr. Bing," the doctor said as he finished checking Chandler's pupils. "Looks like you are recovering nicely so I'm happy to discharge you. I'm going to prescribe some pain medicine and don't hesitate to come back if you are still feeling disorientated or there is no sign of improvement in a few days."

Joey and Ross helped Chandler walk as they started the journey back to the apartment. As the neared their destination Joey noticed Chandler was rather quiet, and when Joey tried to initiate conversation Chandler responded in quiet one word answers.

When Chandler was finally faced with the door the Apartment 19 he suddenly started shaking, Joey tightened his grip on his best friend in case he decided to drop in panic.

"Are you okay buddy?" Joey gently asked.

"I can't" Chandler started, tears forming in his eyes.

"It's okay sweetie." Monica said. "Do you want to come over to our apartment?" Monica suggested.

Chandler nodded in agreement. As Joey lead Chandler into the girls' apartment a wave realisation washed over him. Moving back in with Chandler and getting him home safely wasn't the end of this ordeal.

It was only the beginning.

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AN: This is the end of **End of an Era**, remember this was based on SfGrl's fics: **After All** and **And Miles Before I go to Sleep** so where **End of an Era** ends (as in now) **After All** begins and then read **And Miles Before I go to Sleep** to finish this series.


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